The greatest dynasty in Autobacs SUPER GT Series history has been cemented. TGR Team au TOM’S drivers Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita won the season-ending Motegi GT 300km Race: Grand Final to win the 2025 GT500 Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships – an unbelievable fourth set of GT500 titles in five years for TOM’S.
The #1 au TOM’S Toyota GR Supra’s victory secured a record-tying fourth GT500 Drivers’ Championship for Tsuboi, matching the record originally set in 2015 by Nissan legend Ronnie Quintarelli. Tsuboi also became the first driver in SUPER GT/JGTC history to win three consecutive GT500 championships.
With his third championship, Yamashita joined the elite company of only five other drivers to win at least three GT500 championships in their career, including Tsuboi, Quintarelli, Satoshi Motoyama, Juichi Wakisaka, and Yuji Tachikawa.
It is the 11th GT500 Teams’ Championship and the eighth GT500 Drivers’ Championship for TOM’S, the most of any team in SUPER GT history.
Heading into the final day of the 2025 SUPER GT Series, six teams still had a mathematical chance to win the GT500 Championships. The #1 au TOM’S GR Supra could have unconditionally clinched the championship with a first or second-place finish. Tsuboi started second, in a position to win the title. Hiroaki Ishiura started from the pole in the #38 KeePer Cerumo GR Supra – the clear sentimental favourite to win his first championship in his 18th and final GT500 season.
Three other Toyotas started outside the top ten, desperately needing a miracle to win the championship in the final race. One Honda, the #100 Stanley Civic Type R-GT, started seventh in the hands of Naoki Yamamoto, behind a quartet of Nissans with nothing to lose in the final race.
Ishiura led the GT500 field to the green flag, but his advantage would only last three corners. Tsuboi grabbed the lead with a textbook crossover pass, going to the outside in turn three to tuck the nose of his white and orange Toyota underneath and take the lead out of turn four. That opened the door for Bertrand Baguette in the #12 TRS Impul with SDG Nissan Z to get by Ishiura as well and grab second place. Just like that, TGR Team au TOM’S was in firm control of its championship destiny.
A two-car collision in GT300 at the 90-Degree Corner led to a brief full course yellow (FCY) on lap eight, which was lifted the next lap. Not long after, Tsuboi was able to open up his lead on Baguette, pulling ahead by around five seconds by lap 15, and then 6.4 seconds by lap 21. Ishiura was still third, Mitsunori Takaboshi in the #23 Motul Autech Z was fourth, and Yamamoto was fifth in the #100 Stanley Civic.
On lap 22, the #12 TRS Z and the #38 KeePer GR Supra led the first group of cars to come into the pits. As they did, Ishiura climbed out of a GT500 car for the very last time, handing the car off to Toshiki Oyu. Oyu left the pits ahead of Kazuki Hiramine in the TRS Z.
The #1 au GR Supra made its pit stop one lap later, as did the #23 Motul Z. The TOM’S crew had a bit of trouble securing the right-front wheel, leading to a slower stop than they’d have wanted. But just as Yamashita crossed the pit exit line, Oyu locked up and went off into the gravel at the 90-Degree Corner. When he could have successfully undercut his way back into the lead, Oyu instead lost two positions and picked up a flat spot.
And then on lap 24, the #100 Stanley Civic came in for a driver change, and fuel only. By not changing tyres, Tadasuke Makino was able to leave the pits with an 11-second lead over Yamashita. The only question was if the harder-compound Bridgestone tyres on the #100 Stanley Civic could last long enough to take the race victory.
That question was answered very quickly: Within three laps, Yamashita had erased virtually all of Makino’s advantage, and on lap 29, Yamashita overtook Makino around the outside of turn three to retake the net lead of the race. The Stanley Civic was then quickly overtaken by Hiramine, and then Katsumasa Chiyo in the Motul Z.
Only one car, the #37 Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra of Ukyo Sasahara, opted for the inverted strategy and waited until lap 37 to come in for its stop. Once Sasahara came in, Yamashita officially re-took the race lead, but Hiramine was only a second behind him, poised to try and grab the lead.
The blue Impul Z made a huge lunge up the inside of the 90º Corner on lap 44, but Hiramine went into the corner with too much speed, and Yamashita retook the lead with ease. Chiyo had drawn to within striking distance of the two leaders by lap 49, when Hiramine attempted a pass around the outside of the same corner, only to be denied once again.
All while this was going on, there was an intense battle in the bottom half of the top ten – within that fight, Kazuya Oshima in the #14 Eneos X Prime GR Supra collided with the #16 ARTA Mugen Civic Type R-GT of Hiroki Otsu. Debris from that collision led to the second FCY of the race, but it was cleared quickly. Oshima and Nirei Fukuzumi would finish a lowly 14th after a 40-second time penalty was given to Oshima for incident responsibility.
Yamashita got held up momentarily by GT300 traffic as he came around Victory Corner, Hiramine had one last chance to pass for the win, but the #1 au TOM’s GR Supra held on for the win at Motegi, its third win of the season, and of course, the 2025 GT500 Championship – an unprecedented three-peat for TOM’S and Tsuboi. Only NISMO had won three consecutive GT500 Teams’ Championships from 2003–2005, but lost the 2005 Drivers’ Championship.
Tsuboi also scored his tenth career GT500 victory, the tenth driver to reach that milestone in their career. “I felt frustrated after Qualifying, so I came into today’s race determined to win,” said Tsuboi. “Considering the condition of the tyres, I felt that we would have a good chance. It turned out that we were able to take the lead, and because I thought that there would be other cars trying a no-tyre-change strategy, I wanted to give Yamashita-san a good margin of lead, and I think I was able to do that.
“Yamashita always had rivals chasing him, and I am grateful that he was able to keep the lead in those tough conditions. I am really glad that we were able to come out of the last race of the season with a win.”
After finishing off a hard-fought victory in the second half, Yamashita added, “The last race of the season is always an exhausting experience!” It was his ninth career GT500 victory. “Tsuboi-san was able to take the lead in the first lap and continue to expand his lead, and with the team’s fast pit work, I think this was a perfect race.”
The following statement is not meant to diminish the fond memories of the famous Castrol TOM’S Supras of the ’90s, or the Petronas-sponsored Lexus of the late 2000s and early 2010s, but it must be said: This current iteration of the TOM’S squad and the white and orange au TOM’S GR Supra, has definitively surpassed the achievements of its forerunners.
“Now that Tsuboi and the team have won this third consecutive championship, I think it may be a record that maybe will never be repeated again in the future. This also means that we have a chance for a fourth consecutive title! But I think we owe it all to the team,” Yamashita added.
The #12 TRS Impul Z of Hiramine and Baguette took the chequered flag 0.254 seconds adrift, in what would have been one of the closest finishes in JGTC/SUPER GT history, and Team Impul’s second podium of the year. But the second-place run was short-lived. Not long after Hiramine and Baguette left the podium, the #12 TRS Impul Z was disqualified for exceeding the maximum allowed skid block wear.
That gave second place to the #23 Motul Z of Chiyo and Takaboshi, who officially finished 1.015 seconds behind Tsuboi and Yamashita.
And incredibly, after arresting his freefall out of the top three, Makino was able to hold onto fourth place on the road, which became third place and a podium for the #100 Stanley Civic following the #12’s disqualification. That podium helped Yamamoto, Makino, and Stanley Team Kunimitsu secure second place in the GT500 Championship.
That finish allowed the Honda Civic Type R-GT to depart GT500 with a positive result at Honda-owned Mobility Resort Motegi. While the new Honda Prelude is nowhere near the Civic Type R’s level of performance on the street, Honda hopes the new Prelude-GT’s more conventional coupe shape will make for a more well-rounded GT500 super silhouette racer in 2026.
Completing the top five were the #39 Denso Kobelco SARD GR Supra (Yuhi Sekiguchi/Sacha Fenestraz) in fourth, and the #37 Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra (Ukyo Sasahara/Giuliano Alesi) in fifth. Spirited second-half runs from Fenestraz and Alesi got both cars into the top five after they started 12th and 14th, respectively.
The #8 ARTA Mugen Civic (Tomoki Nojiri/Nobuharu Matsushita) finished sixth, after overtaking the #38 KeePer GR Supra with ten laps to go. Oyu played defence for most of his stint after the lock-up on his out lap, and would finish in a frustrating seventh place.
Then, completing the top ten were the #16 ARTA Mugen Civic (Hiroki Otsu/Ren Sato), the #3 Niterra Motul Z (Daiki Sasaki/Atsushi Miyake), and the #24 Realize Corporation Advan Z (Tsugio Matsuda/Teppei Natori).
After 203 SUPER GT/JGTC races, two-time GT500 Champion Matsuda finishes his 26-year career with a top-ten finish. He plans to continue racing in other championships for the foreseeable future. The other retiring driver in GT500 was Takuya Izawa, who finished 12th in the #64 Modulo Civic (with Riki Okusa).
Somewhat overshadowing a dramatic fight for the GT300 Championship was a long-awaited first SUPER GT victory for Team Mach and its nine-year-old, Dome-constructed Mother Chassis Toyota 86. Yusuke Shiotsu and Iori Kimura drove the #5 Mach Syaken/Air Buster MC86 to victory from the front row.
Behind them, K2 R&D LEON Racing, Naoya Gamou, and Togo Suganami held on to clinch the GT300 Championship with a sixth-place finish, after starting 14th and facing jeopardy for most of the race.
Nine teams had a mathematical chance, large or small, to win the GT300 Championship. Three of them could clinch the championship if they just won the race. But the way the weekend progressed, it looked like GT300 would have its eighth different winner in eight rounds.
And early on, that winner looked poised to be the #61 Subaru BRZ R&D Sport, which started on pole position in the hands of Takuto Iguchi. Iguchi took the lead with Shiotsu running second, but Seita Nonaka in the #52 Saitama Green Brave Toyota GR Supra was challenging the #5 Mach Syaken MC86 for second. Nonaka appeared to get by Shiotsu for second place, but that happened as the first FCY came out for a collision between the #777 D’station Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Charlie Fagg and the #6 Uni-Robo Bluegrass Ferrari 296 GT3 of Yoshiaki Katayama.
Nonaka gave back the position to Shiotsu initially, but later retook second place, and Shiotsu left the door open for Kohei Hirate in the #56 Realize/Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R to take third. That pass was critical for Hirate, who entered the day second in the GT300 Drivers’ Championship, and was provisionally leading the table as they ran with that overtake.
Zak O’Sullivan was charging hard through the field in the #7 CarGuy MKS Ferrari, breaking into the top six as the first GT300 cars made their first pit stops, while Suganami had quietly worked his way back into the top ten.
After 19 laps, the #5 Mach Syaken MC86 came in from fourth place. Kimura got into the car, and Team Mach elected to take fuel only to gain track position. In this final race, fuel-only and two-tyre stops would be a viable strategy for the GT300 contenders. That’s why the #65 LEON Pyramid AMG came in to change only the front tyres as Gamou got in the car to finish the race.
On lap 26, the #61 Subaru BRZ came in from the class lead in GT300, changing all four tyres. However, Yamauchi left the pits behind the new net leader Kimura. And then, a lap later, the #52 Green Brave GR Supra pitted and took only new front tyres, allowing Hiroki Yoshida to jump ahead of both of them momentarily. But in just a couple of laps, Kimura was able to overtake Yoshida and retake the net lead of the race.
Yoshida and Yamauchi raced side-by-side for almost a lap before the #61 Subaru finally got past the #52 Toyota for net second place. With four fresh tyres, the expectation was that Yamauchi would catch and pass Kimura with a three-second gap. But it just never happened, as the Mach Syaken MC86 had more than enough pace in hand to maintain and grow that gap over the field.
And when the chequered flag fell, Kimura finished first, and Team Mach – a team that has been competing in SUPER GT for 22 years – finally won its first race. After six podium finishes without reaching the top step since debuting in 2003. And after two seasons without registering a single championship point, let’s not forget.
“Watching until the finish felt like the longest time I could ever experience!” said Shiotsu. “But it’s because it has taken the team 22 years to get this win. I was able to join the team from last year, so I am really glad to see the work of the team until now finally being shown with the result in this final round. I really want to express my gratitude to the team… this is truly great!”
This is also a personal milestone for Shiotsu: His first official SUPER GT victory, after being part of two different winning crews in long-distance races, but never getting in the car during the race and thus, not being officially credited with the win. That changed today.
“I want to express my gratitude to Mr. (Tetsuji) Tamanaka, the owner of Team Mach, for giving me the chance to enter this year’s competition, and to everyone on the team for enabling us to run with no serious trouble,” said Kimura, who took his second career GT300 win – both times, at Motegi. “I think this is a race that we won thanks to the support of our sponsors and the fans. And since the package has come together from the middle of this season, I am really relieved that we were able to win.”
This was the first win for GTA Mother Chassis #0014, which first raced in 2016–2017 with Panther Team Thailand, then with INGING in 2020, and Arnage Racing in 2022. The car was sold to Team Mach in 2023 after their original car, Mother Chassis #0013, was destroyed in an accident at this venue three years ago. And it ensured eight different winners in eight rounds (D’station Racing won both Fuji Sprint Races in August).
Despite dominating Practice, Qualifying, and the first stint of the race, the #61 Subaru finished second, in the BRZ’s last race with the EJ20 flat-4 engine that powered every Subaru GT300 car since 1998, and every Subaru World Rally Team car from 1990–2008.
While Team Mach took the victory, all eyes locked on a four-car battle for second place. Yamauchi led the group in his Subaru, Yoshida was right behind him in the #52 GR Supra, then behind them were the #666 seven x seven Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Harry King and the #56 Realize GT-R of João Paulo de Oliveira. If Oliveira could overtake two more cars, it would give co-driver Hirate and Kondo Racing the title.
With two laps to go, King dove up the inside of Yoshida to grab third place, and on the final lap, Oliveira followed him through for fourth. Oliveira got a great run down the hill towards the 90º Corner, drew alongside, but King boxed out the Nissan and kept Oliveira behind him. That secured a third podium finish in three races for the #666 Porsche of King and Kiyoto Fujinami, by less than three-tenths.
The #56 Nissan of Hirate and Oliveira was fourth, followed by the #52 Toyota of Yoshida and Nonaka. And in sixth place, the championship-winning #65 LEON Pyramid AMG of Gamou and Suganami held on to win the Drivers’ Championship by just one point, and K2 R&D LEON Racing won the Teams’ Championship over Kondo Racing on a tiebreaker!
Gamou, who won his first championship in Motegi seven years ago, and narrowly missed out in 2024 at Suzuka, finally got his and LEON Racing’s second GT300 crown. “I am really happy that we got the title. Running in the second half, I didn’t know what was happening with the title race. So I just kept concentrating on running as fast as I could, lap after lap. I am really glad that we won the championship, and when I saw how happy Togo was, it made me happy as well!”
Suganami won his first title with the team that gave him his first SUPER GT start in 2019. He parted ways with LEON Racing after 2021, first to try and continue his single-seater career, then to drive for two difficult seasons at Hoppy Team Tsuchiya. “I am very, very happy!” he exclaimed. “Since we didn’t get a good position in the qualifying, I didn’t know what would happen when the race started, but with the team’s perfect strategy and Gamou-san’s strong racing, and some good luck along the way, we won the title.
“From about the last 20 laps I was hoping that it would all be over soon, and it felt like the longest 20 laps of my life. When they won the title in 2018, it was on Gamou-san’s birthday, and today is my birthday, so I am especially happy!”
In seventh place was the #7 CarGuy Ferrari of O’Sullivan and Rikuto Kobayashi, who also finished third in the GT300 Championship by two and a half points. The #4 Goodsmile Hatsune Miku AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Tatsuya Kataoka) finished eighth, followed by the #2 Hyper Water INGING Toyota GR86 (Yuui Tsutsumi/Hibiki Taira) and the #18 Upgarage AMG (Takashi Kobayashi/Yuto Nomura).
Rounding out the top 15 were the #87 Metalive S Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 (Kosuke Matsuura/Natsu Sakaguchi), the #777 D’station Vantage (Tomonobu Fujii/Charlie Fagg), #96 K-tunes Lexus RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi), #0 Venteny Lamborghini (Takashi Kogure/Yuya Motojima), and #62 HELM Motorsports GT-R (Yuya Hiraki/Reiji Hiraki).
One car, the #25 Hoppy Schatz GR Supra (Takamitsu Matsui/Kimiya Sato), did not start due to a mechanical failure on the parade lap.
And with that, the 2025 SUPER GT Series concludes, with the 2026 season – a critical year for the championship – set to start at Okayama International Circuit on 12 April.
Images © GTA
